Researchers: Drought, heat waves more likely to mix
By Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times
A drought can make a hot day hotter, while a heat wave can make dry conditions even drier. Now scientists are making the case that heat waves and droughts have become more likely to overlap throughout most of the United States.
In fact, the longer and hotter the heat wave, the bigger the jump in the odds that it coincided with drought conditions, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Despite an apparent hiatus in rising temperature and no significant trend in droughts, we show a substantial increase in concurrent droughts and heatwaves across most parts of the United States,” wrote Omid Mazdiyasni and Amir AghaKouchak, who study climate and hydrology trends at UC Irvine.
